Balanced Scorecard and the Financial Perspective

¶ … organization: Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)

What this organization does -- its mission, vision and overall strategy:

The mission of the VA is taken from Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address which is to "To care for him who shall have borne the battle, his widow and his orphans."

Vision: The VA states that, "The President's vision for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is to transform VA into a 21st Century organization that is Veteran-centric, results-driven, and forward-looking" (Annual budget submission, 2013, para. 2).

Overall Strategy: The VA Secretary, Honorable Eric K. Shinseki, states that the VA "will not compromise the safety, security, or well-being of Veterans or our employees, but we must scrutinize every event, initiative, program, and proposal to assure that each is absolutely essential and will produce positive, measurable, returns to the accomplishment of our mission" (2013). The VA's current priorities are to:

Expand access for veterans.

2. Eliminate the claims backlog.

3. End veteran homelessness (Shinseki, 2013).

Identify at least three objectives for improving the organization's financial position, and show how they relate to the mission, vision and strategy of the organization:

1. Close existing VA facilities and provide private sector fee-based health care for veterans in states and regions with low veteran populations. This objective would expand access to veterans in keeping with the VA's overall strategy for scrutinizing every initiative and program to assure it is absolutely essential, and eliminating waste at every opportunity is required for the VA to effectively achieve its mission.

2. Remove the $960 cap from the existing prescription co-pay. VA-provided prescriptions for nonservice-connected veterans are currently provided at a highly subsidized rate that is capped at $960 (Outpatient Prescription Drug Coverage Comparison, 2013). Removing this cap would ensure that nonservice-connected veterans are paying their fair share of their health care costs, thereby supporting the VA mission, the president's vision and the VA's overall strategy..

3. Petition the U.S. Congress and President Obama to increase the VA's budget by 25%. The VA's budget request for 2014 is $152.7 billion, representing a meager 4.3% increase from 2012; this figure includes $66.5 billion in discretionary resources and $86.1 billion in mandatory funding (Annual budget submission, 2013). This initiative would directly address the VA's current financial shortfalls that limit access to healthcare services, result in insufficient claims processors and improve the outreach programs and resources available for homeless veterans' programs.

For each objective, develop at least one meaningful performance measure (metric).

1. Close existing VA facilities and provide private sector fee-based health care for veterans in states and regions with low veteran populations: Percentage of veterans receiving fee-based care within one year.

2. Remove the $960 cap from the existing prescription co-pay: Amount of additional fees generated by initiative within one year.

3. Petition the U.S. Congress and President Obama to increase the VA's budget by 25%: Percentage increase actually achieved each year.

For each objective, identify at least one expected level of performance (target).

1. Close existing VA facilities and provide private sector fee-based health care for veterans in states and regions with low veteran populations: Reduce costs of healthcare in affected states and regions by 20% within one year of implementation.

2. Remove the $960 cap from the existing prescription co-pay: Increase co-pays by 10% over the duration of the initiative.

3. Petition the U.S. Congress and President Obama to increase the VA's budget by 25%: Any actual budget increase received.